Cassie

by itemvn  |  September 15, 2007 [Edit]

Casandra Ventura (born August 26, 1986 in New London, Connecticut) professionally known as Cassie, is an American R&B and pop singer, model, and actress. She is best known for her 2005 single "Me & U", which became a hit in 2006. Cassie is trilingual, being fluent in English and conversational in Tagalog and Spanish.

Ventura is the daughter of a Filipino father and an African-American/West Indian/Mexican mother. While attending The Williams School, a preparatory school on the Connecticut College campus, Ventura began her career as a model at the age of fourteen, appearing in ads for Delia's, Adidas, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Seventeen. When she completed high school in 2004, she announced that she was going to pursue her career in modeling and music, foregoing college.

In New York - where Ventura was modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch. She modeled for Wilhelmina Models. She took classes at the Broadway Dance Center. Producer Ryan Leslie began spotting her at clubs and parties in late 2004, later saying he was charmed by her personality. She was finally introduced to him by Sean "Diddy" Combs' make-up artist, who had worked with Ventura on one of her modeling assignments.

Shortly after being introduced to music producer Ryan Leslie, Ventura's mother supposedly asked Ventura to record a song for her as a birthday gift. Ventura approached Leslie, who wrote a duet for them called "Kiss Me". Leslie played the track for Tommy Mottola, who offered Ventura a management deal. Ventura inked a deal with Leslie's NextSelection label. Leslie also co-wrote and produced Ventura's first single, "Me & U", in 2005. By March 2006, Ventura had signed with Diddy's record label, Bad Boy Records.

On its release, "Me & U" proved to be a massive hit, particularily in the U.S. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on the Billboard Pop 100, and number one on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Follow-up single "Long Way 2 Go" was far less successful, peaking at ninety-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold 300,000 copies in the U.S.

Billboard magazine reported that Ventura's second album is to be released in the U.S. on September 18, 2007. Contrary to rumors, she has not been dropped from Bad Boy Records, and will be working with producers Kanye West and Pharrell Williams on her second album. She has made available for listening on her MySpace page a new song titled "Sometimes", produced by and featuring Ryan Leslie. Cassie and Lauren London are spokesmodels for the Sean John women's collection, which Diddy said would be released in July 2007.

She made an appearance in the Kanye West music video "Stronger". She will appear in the film Step Up 2, and is to record a song for its soundtrack.

(Last edited by courteney23)